I sat up late last night watching Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s film Anuradha, yet again and found myself in tears, thinking how much I have over the years, grown to love the maker, who would have been 84 on 30th September, through his films. Satyajit Ray and Hrishikesh Mukherjee are my all time favorite film makers and I don’t think there is any movie of Hrishikesh Mukherjee that I haven’t seen and not loved.
Whether it was the heartbreaking Anand that makes me cry, no matter how many times I see it and revel in its amazing music by Salil Chaudhry, or the comedy of errors Chupke Chupke that rivets me to this day I have loved what I saw on screen. Whether it was Satyakaam, Hrishi da’s personal most favorite film, where he makes the son of the raped widow gain acceptance in the eyes of the dead man’s grandfather because truth always prevails and the ties of love are not necessarily forged by the ties of blood: or a Khubsoorat where Ashok Kumar and Dina Pathak were at their best showcasing the complexities in a husband wife relationship in a multi-layered performance, or even an Abhimaan, that gave Bindu a new lease in acting and allowed her to move away from stereotypical vampish roles that had become her trademark, each movie was a beautifully polished gem, and presented in the simplest manner.
His movies are ageless; his stories the story of everyman and transcend generations. My grandmother, my mother and I have all been fans. I see a lot of little kids watching these films today and laughing at the crazy capers of an Amitabh Bachchan, bumbling through biology descriptions of the corolla and karela and crying at Anand’s death. More than anything, every one of his movies were ones you could see and enjoy as a whole family without worrying about sleaze and bad language that seems to be the norm rather than the exception in Bollywood films today.
The themes of his movie smacked of pragmatism where Hrishi da spoke eloquently against the ills of society. He had a master’s touch on the pulse of the middle class. He also gave Dharmendra, Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha and Amol Palekar some of the best roles of their lives.
Hrishikesh Mukherjee wanted to become a bio chemist, but while teaching math and science in a school, he developed an interest in photography. While he was learning the craft he started sitting with a friend who was a film editor. Soon Hrishida learnt so much that he started advising the friend. One day famous film director Bimal Roy overheard him telling the friend how to edit a particular segment and asked him to edit the film. The venture was super successful and Hrishi da next wrote the screenplay for Bimal Roy’s famous film “Do Beegha Zamin”. It was Dilip Kumar who insisted he direct a movie and Hrishikesh Mukherjee came up with Musafir. He never looked back after that and went on to make 44 films in a 45 year film career. His movies had the finest editing and absolutely lovely music. Till the day he died, all Hrishi da had to do was to ask for certain actors to work in his films, and they were there; that was the kind of respect his genius commanded, even when he stepped back for several years from making films.
It has been very gratifying to see people pay tribute to Hrishi da from all walks of life in thousands. Film director Priyadarshan whose film Malamaal Weekly has been a huge hit said at its release, “Malamaal Weekly’ is my tribute to one of my favourite directors, Hrishikesh Mukherjee. I have always been a great fan of Hrishida,” in an interview with IANS.
In another interview with Lata Khoobchandani Amitabh Bachchan, who is usually a man of few words, spoke at length about what Hrishi da meant to him. “I worked with Hrishikesh Mukherjee a lot before the 1973 film Zanjeer in which my so-called image of Indian cinema’s “angry young man” was seemingly established. I have never worked for an image. I continued working with Hrishida, as we all fondly called him, after working with other directors like Salim/Javed, Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai, in a variety of roles.
Hrishida was like a father figure to me and my wife, Jaya. Working with him was an unbelievable experience because his style of film-making was never to compromise on quality and on the story ideas. He never pandered to any baser instincts, and he set his own path which was neither too artistic nor too commercial.
I will have to admit that most of the interesting characters that I played have been in films that were made by him – be it Anand or Mili or Chupke Chupke, or Bemisal or Namak Haram, or Jurmana. They were all exceptionally well-etched and, of course, the greatest opportunity to perform for me has been in his films.
His knowledge of the craft was so immense that we just left ourselves in his hands. We never heard any scripts, never heard any stories – we just came on the sets.
He told us to stand there, walk here, say it in this manner, speak like this – that’s how he used to direct all of us. So our input was nothing at all. All that you see in his films is entirely his input.
If it was a complex character like in Mili, we would sit together and he would give a one-line description and then guide us as the scenes came.
You actually saw your character unfold before you. It felt good – I felt that I had left myself in the hands of a master. One really didn’t have to worry because one knew that Hrishida was going to mould you. He was a master editor and knew his craft incredibly well – he would shoot a scene and you would know nothing about it till you saw it.
And yet when you saw it finished, it was amazing how well he had actually conceived the thing. He could do the last shot first and could put something in the middle days later and it was just marvellous to see a person so gifted.
He was the one who used to spot talent, and the one who used to challenge and he’s the one who used to guide and direct, we were just followers. His characters were close to reality, and certainly the scenes that were written and the situations that we were put in, were so genuine and real and realistic that they gave great opportunities to actors.
His films were full of delightful subtleties and became great cinema. It is difficult to pick one character and say that’s the best – there was Anand and Abhimaan, Mili too – all of them unbelievable moments in film-making.
I am often asked whether it is true that in the last shot of Anand I was laughing when I was supposed to cry. There is hardly any difference in sound when one cries and when one laughs and our faces were not seen in this top angle shot – we were both laughing because my chin was tickling my co-actor Rajesh Khanna’s stomach!
The largest number of films that I did with one director was with Hrishikesh Mukherjee. It’s a fallacy that it’s Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai.
They don’t create people like Hrishida any more. I think it’s wrong to say his kind of cinema doesn’t work any longer. I’m sure if Hrishida were to make those kinds of films again, it would certainly have an audience.”
I spoke with legendary singer Asha Bhosle and she said she had known Hrishi da for a long time-from the time he had started work with Bimal Roy. “Initially I didn’t work with him but later I sang for him while working with Salil Da and R.D. Burman. The last song I sang for him was O saathi re bhool na jana. I loved singing all the songs of Khubsoorat. He was a very reserved and quiet and usually spoke in Bengali. He was a good human being and an excellent director.”
Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s older son Pratip and his wife Swati live in Boston with their two children Priyanka and Abhishek. Swati recalls the time the family came to see her before she got married to Pratip. “I used to love ice cream and when I got married I was kind of chubby. Baba looked at me and said-what is this? I said yes to Jaya and a few months later, its Farida Jalal who has come to my house. He got after me to exercise and get in shape and I have maintained my weight since then, even though its never easy.” Swati says she was also told by Baba as she called her father in law, that she was his fourth daughter and not his daughter-in law.
“He addressed me as TU, instead of TUM, just the way he addressed his other daughters. Even though we had a lot of servants in the house I was always present at the time he ate and offered him the food, be it midnight or 5 a.m. in the morning.”
The legendary film maker kept his work and his personal life totally separate and fiercely protected his family life and its privacy, says Swati. “ We never discussed films at home much. He would come home and instead play with Priyanka for hours. He lost his wife at a very young age and never remarried. His five children were raised in Calcutta by his parents and perhaps having been kept away from the limelight was the reason why all of them are so grounded.”
Pratip, says that he was overwhelmed to see the outpouring of love not just from people who knew him but those who didn’t, when he was in India end of August for his father’s funeral.” Baba had made his last film Jhoot Bole Kauva Kaatey in 1998 after a gap of a decade or more, and the film was not made the way he would have liked it. His health was pretty bad and most of the members of his unit had either died or lost interest and so the movie was not made to his liking. So I could not imagine that a man who had stayed away in the last 8 years of his life from films was so loved and admired.”
The change in films thematically, in the 80s, with Amitabh Bachchan’s angry young man image setting the box office on fire, more violent and risqué movies became the staple diet of Bollywood. It disappointed him, but he refused to stoop to the box office demand, just to stay in the limelight. “ I remember saying to him one time, Baba why don’t you change with the times, “ says Swati, “and he retorted, Swati do you want me to make films where the heroine lifts her leg and the hero goes under it? Never! He was right.”
Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s younger son Sandeep was the one who was interested in film making, while Pratip a brilliant computer engineer, chose to go a different route. Sandeep however was just settling into the profession when he died an untimely death after a severe asthma attack at a very young age.
”I think Sandeep’s untimely death really affected Baba and his health started failing after that,” says Swati. “He nevertheless encouraged Pratip to move to the US when he was selected and offered the job, the only one among nation wide candidates. Baba always said, your own glory is always better than reflected glory and though he was a bit worried because my son was only 8 months old, he insisted my husband follow his true calling and prosper.”
Swati says the one key lesson she learnt from her father in law was that if you do anything for someone, do it selflessly and give it your best.” When the first bone marrow transplant happened in India, the family of this 16 year old girl Anuradha, who did not know us at all wrote to baba. They said they were not familiar with Bombay so could he find a place for them to stay?” Baba said to me Swati, do you mind if we gave them our guest room? It may affect our privacy but I feel we need to help them. I told him not to worry and just ask them to come. The family came and stayed with us for 9 months. Additional family members also came during that time, to see the young girl as she underwent the transplant at Tata Memorial Hospital. That selfless spirit that baba had has stayed with me and I try my best to be the same way.”
Swati also says her father in law told her never to push her husband hard to achieve dizzying heights of success. “ Baba said he wanted to be the last name in film editing and worked such long hours that at times he’d come home and just pass out with fatigue on the editing table. “ He said to me, Swati, I never had the time to even look at your mother-in law’s face and when I finally raised my head, my hair had turned white, your grandmother was gone and the children had grown up. I missed out on a lot. Don’t have the same fate as my wife.” I feel so sad that my mother in law didn’t live to see her husband’s glory and she made so many sacrifices. Baba used to say she was not a human being but a devi(goddess).”
Towards the end, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s kidneys had failed and he would undergo dialysis. “Jaya Bachchan was deeply attached to Baba, “says Swati and adds, “He was also her second father, and it was because of her intervention and speaking to the trustees at Lilavati hospital that he received the best care and personal attention.”
Many people don’t know that Hrishikesh Mukherjee and his brother Kashinath Mukherjee were very accomplished sitar players and the whole family comprises of academic super achievers. “Baba won the gold medal at a competition for young sitarists,” says Pratip. “Vilayat Khan Sahib and Amir Khan taught his brother and Baba would meet Vilayat Khan Sahib all the time.” Pratip would make cds of classical music and Hrishi da would listen to those cds while the dialysis was going on. Towards the end Pratip introduced him to Shujaat Khan’s folk music. “His cd Lajo Lajo was played even at our daughter Priyanka’s wedding. In fact when I took the cd to him, being a hard core classical music lover he was hesitant and said-are you sure I should listen to it? When he did he was hooked. He also listened to other cds of Shujaat Khan’s singing all the time and just fell in love with his singing.”
Pratip says his father was very methodical and kept meticulous diaries of daily events.” He came to visit us here in 1994 and had a diary about his trip, the people he met in the minutest detail. He also possessed a phenomenal memory. As late as March of this year, my uncle and I were talking about the past when we tried to recall a particular person’s name, and were struggling. Finally my uncle said why bother just ask your father. Baba was reading the newspaper but had the answer, when we asked him. I didn’t see him read much in general, but he read a lot when he was about to make a film. However his knowledge was tremendous and he was very interested in science.”
Hrishi da’s grand daughter Priyanka whose husband Nikhil Rajpal is also musician says her earliest memories of her grandfather are when she was a little girl and was playing at a friend’s house in the neighborhood, she was asked to come home immediately.” I thought uh oh am I in trouble? She rushed home only to find a red bike with a bell that her grandfather had hung for her waiting in the drive way. “I always remember that Putibaba, which is what I called my grandfather, was a man who made me very happy all the time, and was always there for me through the good and bad times. He called my best friend who died of cancer all the time to encourage her and when she passed away, he tracked me down to make sure I was okay. I got to know him better as I grew older and would go to India often to visit him.”
Priyanka says she would miss his sense of humor the most. “ He was so happy to meet my husband and so proud to see his new music video. He felt a deep attachment and felt that they had known each other in a previous life time. He said to him-beta if I was well I would have helped you edit the video.” For him it was a matter of pride that his grand son in law was making music that was socially conscious and carried a message. Somehow having grown up watching my grand father’s films, I feel today’s film and music industry has come so far away from the real India that we knew.”
Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films and their characters were so believable because they were so close to the people we meet in real life. How real? Swati and Priyanka laughingly say many of the family members have made it to celluloid thanks to Hrishi da’s keen recording of everything in his diaries and astute observation skills. “If you see the movie Kisi se na Kehna, the character of Ramesh Chandra, the bright, shy, obedient son, is based on my dad, “says Priyanka. “ And the daughter in law is loosely based on me. Even a fight I had with baba made it to the film,” says Swati with a laugh. Her comment about Zakir Hussain also made it into the film, where Utpal Dutt goes to see this modern girl as a prospective bride and asks her if she listens to Ravi Shankar. The girl retorts-oh he is only famous abroad, but I like that guy Zakir Hussain because he is so hot!” Other movies like Abhimaan and Anupama were also based on real people. His friendship with Raj Kapoor inspired Hrishi da to make Anand. Rajesh Khanna’s character in Bawarchi was based on Hrishi da’s own father who was a chemist and used to concoct all kinds of things from Kohl for the ladies, to fire crackers in his lab.
Swati says while the whole family was acquainted with classical music, she used to listen to Neil Diamond and Abba. “ Baba was aghast when he mentioned Zakir Hussain one day and I said excitedly-I know him, I know him-because he is so handsome! Baba looked at me and said What? is that all you know about him. Is this the girl I married my son to? You have to go and get some classical music records and listen to them.”
An animal lover, Hrishikesh Mukherjee had 13 dogs at one time and finally made do with six.’ Putibaba got me my first dog, Kalu. This little black thing in a wicker basket,” says Priyanka. “ I thought he got me a baby goat until this cute cocker spaniel came out.”
More than anything the family says his thirst for knowledge was never ending. He got a computer and quickly go the hang of it, he enjoyed playing chess, and his films had phenomenal music because of his immense knowledge for classical music, though he never allowed music to overshadow his film.” Unlike today’s film makers baba didn’t make a movie to match the music videos,” says Pratip.
Priyanaka says she does not appreciate the media reports that her grandfather was a lonely man towards the end of his life. “ Puti baba had a huge extended family and his children and grandchildren visited him very often. I think some of the media people probably mean celebrities who were no longer hanging around putibaba, but he had outlived many of his close friends like Raj Kapoor and Amrish Puri and he was very sad about it but he was certainly not this lonely man being painted by the media.”
Tributes have poured in from the crème de la crème of Indian society. The President and Vice President, sent their condolences. Amitabh Bachchan sent a personal letter. Many actors and actresses came to see Hrishi da constantly at the hospital except for Rekha who was treated as a daughter of the house. “ I’m very disappointed in Rekha,” says Swati. “Not only did Baba give her some of the best roles of her life, he would lovingly call her his chinnapunnu which meant his little girl in Tamil. She never came to see him at the hospital, nor did she come for the funeral. But others made up. Jaya was there all the time, as was Juhi who baba loved like his own grand daughter. Asrani, A.K. Hangal, Amol Palekar all came to see him and we really appreciate that.”
As he is being remembered by many people in many ways and stories are being shared, the multi faceted Babu Moshai, who is a star in the celestial sky today, can very well use his own line from Anand- that people like him never die. They continue to touch our lives with the memories of the magical stories they have woven-and memories don’t go away like people do.
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